Maura O'Connell
Encyclopedia
Maura O'Connell is an Irish
singer and actress. She is known for her contemporary interpretations of Irish folk songs, strongly influenced by American
country music
.
, the main town in County Clare
, in the west of Ireland
. Born into a very musical family, the third of four sisters. Her mother's family owned Costello's fish shop in Ennis where Maura worked, until music became her full-time career. She grew up listening to her mother’s light opera, opera
, and parlor song records. Her father's interest leaned towards the rebel ballads. Despite the presence of classical music in the house, O'Connell got very involved in the local folk club scene and together with Mike Hanrahan, who later fronted trad/rock outfit Stockton's Wing
, they performed, a country music set, as a duo called 'Tumbleweed'.
in 1980, as vocalist for the traditionally-based Celtic group De Dannan
. The following year, she was featured on the band's landmark album, The Star Spangled Molly, (where she has the lead vocals on four tracks) which became something of a national phenomenon in her homeland. However, not long after joining the group she became very interested in the experimental roots music of America
's New Grass Revival
when the bands' paths crossed, and moved to the U.S. in 1986, settling in Nashville, Tennessee
. There she met newgrass pioneers Bela Fleck
and Jerry Douglas
, with whom she’d work on most of her records.
She recorded her first solo album in 1983, however, it didn't make any impact in Ireland or in the US. O’Connell received a Grammy nomination for her 1989 album, Helpless Heart, which was her first record released under Warner Bros. Records
. Real Life Story (1991), and Blue is the Colour of Hope (1992), registered a move toward a pop synthesis. O'Connell's versions of "Living In These Troubled Times" and Cheryl Wheeler
's "Summer Fly" became standout tracks on the 1993 album A Woman's Heart
, on four all-female overseas tours and on the 1994 follow-up album in her homeland. A Woman's Heart Vol. 2 features her heartfelt renditions of Nanci Griffith
's "Trouble in the Fields" and Gerry O'Beirne's "Western Highway." After numerous album heavily inspired by American newgrass music, O’Connell returned to her Irish roots with the 1997 release, Wandering Home.
As the new millennium approached, O'Connell signed with the Sugar Hill label in late 2000 and began working on her seventh album. Instead of working with her longtime producer Jerry Douglas, O'Connell had Ray Kennedy
(who worked with Steve Earle
, Lucinda Williams
) produce Walls and Windows, which was released in 2001, and featured an eclectic collection of songs, including work by Kim Richey
, Van Morrison
, John Prine
, Eric Clapton
and Patty Griffin
. Her 2004 album, Don't I Know, contained musical textures added by everything from fiddle
s, to clavinet
s, to lap steel and B-3 organ
.
The 2009 album, Naked With Friends, is Maura’s first a cappella album. Guest vocalists include: Mary Black
, Paul Brady
, Moya Brennan
, Jerry Douglas
, Alison Krauss
, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh
, Tim O'Brien
, Dolly Parton
, Sarah Dugas, Kate Rusby
and Darrell Scott
. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award
.
, Brian Kennedy
, Moya Brennan
, Mary Black
, John Prine
, Jerry Douglas
, Tim O'Brien
, John Gorka
, Bela Fleck
, Robert Earl Keen
, Dolly Parton
and Shawn Colvin
. She has also sung background vocals for a number of artists, including Van Morrison
's 1988 project with the Chieftains
, Irish Heartbeat
and Stockton's Wing
on Take A Chance (Tara3004).
cast O'Connell, scruffed up for the role, as an Irish migrant street singer in his 19th century epic The Gangs of New York, released in 2002.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
singer and actress. She is known for her contemporary interpretations of Irish folk songs, strongly influenced by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
.
Background
O'Connell was born in EnnisEnnis
Ennis is the county town of Clare in Ireland. Situated on the River Fergus, it lies north of Limerick and south of Galway. Its name is a shortening of the original ....
, the main town in County Clare
County Clare
-History:There was a Neolithic civilisation in the Clare area — the name of the peoples is unknown, but the Prehistoric peoples left evidence behind in the form of ancient dolmen; single-chamber megalithic tombs, usually consisting of three or more upright stones...
, in the west of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Born into a very musical family, the third of four sisters. Her mother's family owned Costello's fish shop in Ennis where Maura worked, until music became her full-time career. She grew up listening to her mother’s light opera, opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, and parlor song records. Her father's interest leaned towards the rebel ballads. Despite the presence of classical music in the house, O'Connell got very involved in the local folk club scene and together with Mike Hanrahan, who later fronted trad/rock outfit Stockton's Wing
Stockton's Wing
Stockton's Wing is an Irish band formed in 1977 by four All-Ireland champion musicians - Paul Roche flute/whistle, Maurice Lennon fiddle, Tommy Hayes bodhran, and Kieran Hanrahan banjo/mandolin, along with Tony Callinan on guitar and vocals.-Name:...
, they performed, a country music set, as a duo called 'Tumbleweed'.
Solo career
O'Connell began her professional musical journey during a six-week tour of the U.S.United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1980, as vocalist for the traditionally-based Celtic group De Dannan
De Dannan
De Dannan was an Irish folk music group. They were formed by Frankie Gavin , Alec Finn , Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh and Charlie Piggott as a result of sessions in Hughes's Pub in An Spidéal, County Galway, subsequently inviting Dolores Keane to join the band...
. The following year, she was featured on the band's landmark album, The Star Spangled Molly, (where she has the lead vocals on four tracks) which became something of a national phenomenon in her homeland. However, not long after joining the group she became very interested in the experimental roots music of America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
's New Grass Revival
New Grass Revival
New Grass Revival was an American progressive bluegrass band founded in 1971, and composed of Sam Bush, Courtney Johnson, Ebo Walker, Curtis Burch, Butch Robins, John Cowan, Béla Fleck and Pat Flynn. They were active between 1971 and 1989, releasing more than twenty albums as well as six singles....
when the bands' paths crossed, and moved to the U.S. in 1986, settling in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. There she met newgrass pioneers Bela Fleck
Béla Fleck
Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.-Early life and career details:Fleck was born in...
and Jerry Douglas
Jerry Douglas
Jerry Douglas may refer to:*Jerry Douglas , actor, who was on The Young and the Restless for 25 years*Jerry Douglas, country/bluegrass musician*Jerry Douglas , director and writer of adult films such as, Score...
, with whom she’d work on most of her records.
She recorded her first solo album in 1983, however, it didn't make any impact in Ireland or in the US. O’Connell received a Grammy nomination for her 1989 album, Helpless Heart, which was her first record released under Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
. Real Life Story (1991), and Blue is the Colour of Hope (1992), registered a move toward a pop synthesis. O'Connell's versions of "Living In These Troubled Times" and Cheryl Wheeler
Cheryl Wheeler
Cheryl Wheeler is an American singer-songwriter of contemporary folk music, based in New England. To date, she has recorded several folk albums, and has toured extensively throughout the United States....
's "Summer Fly" became standout tracks on the 1993 album A Woman's Heart
A Woman's Heart
A Woman's Heart is a compilation of twelve tracks performed by six female Irish artists, namely Eleanor McEvoy, Mary Black, Dolores Keane, Sharon Shannon, Frances Black, and Maura O'Connell...
, on four all-female overseas tours and on the 1994 follow-up album in her homeland. A Woman's Heart Vol. 2 features her heartfelt renditions of Nanci Griffith
Nanci Griffith
Nanci Griffith, is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter from Austin, Texas.-Biography:...
's "Trouble in the Fields" and Gerry O'Beirne's "Western Highway." After numerous album heavily inspired by American newgrass music, O’Connell returned to her Irish roots with the 1997 release, Wandering Home.
As the new millennium approached, O'Connell signed with the Sugar Hill label in late 2000 and began working on her seventh album. Instead of working with her longtime producer Jerry Douglas, O'Connell had Ray Kennedy
Ray Kennedy
Raymond Kennedy is an English former football player who won every domestic honour in the game with Arsenal and Liverpool in the 1970s...
(who worked with Steve Earle
Steve Earle
Stephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play....
, Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams is an American rock, folk, blues and country music singer and songwriter. She recorded her first albums in 1978 and 1980 in a traditional country and blues style and received very little attention from radio, the media, or the public. In 1988, she released her self-titled album,...
) produce Walls and Windows, which was released in 2001, and featured an eclectic collection of songs, including work by Kim Richey
Kim Richey
Kimberly Kay "Kim" Richey is an American singer/songwriter. Though her work fits into the general country music category, her sound is not easily categorized. Her songs have been hits on both the country and pop charts...
, Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, John Prine
John Prine
John Prine is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s.-Biography:...
, Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
and Patty Griffin
Patty Griffin
Patty Griffin, born Patricia Jean Griffin, March 16, 1964, is an American Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter and musician. She is especially known for her down-home crafting of songs and her connection to musicians including Emmylou Harris, Ellis Paul, and the Dixie Chicks, who have played with...
. Her 2004 album, Don't I Know, contained musical textures added by everything from fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
s, to clavinet
Clavinet
A Clavinet is an electrically amplified keyboard instrument manufactured by the Hohner company. It is essentially an electronically amplified clavichord, analogous to an electric guitar. Its distinctive bright staccato sound has appeared particularly in funk, disco, rock, and reggae songs.Various...
s, to lap steel and B-3 organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
.
The 2009 album, Naked With Friends, is Maura’s first a cappella album. Guest vocalists include: Mary Black
Mary Black
Mary Black is an Irish singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both folk and contemporary material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland, and in many other parts of the world....
, Paul Brady
Paul Brady
Paul Joseph Brady is an Irish singer-songwriter, whose work straddles folk and pop. He was interested in a wide variety of music from an early age...
, Moya Brennan
Moya Brennan
Moya Brennan, born Máire Ní Bhraonáin , also known as Máire Brennan , is an Irish folk singer, songwriter, harpist, and philanthropist who began performing professionally in 1970, when her family formed the band Clannad, and is now widely considered as the "First Lady of Celtic Music"...
, Jerry Douglas
Jerry Douglas
Jerry Douglas may refer to:*Jerry Douglas , actor, who was on The Young and the Restless for 25 years*Jerry Douglas, country/bluegrass musician*Jerry Douglas , director and writer of adult films such as, Score...
, Alison Krauss
Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...
, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh is an Irish fiddler and the lead vocalist for the Irish traditional band Altan.-Biography:Ní Mhaonaigh grew up in Gweedore , County Donegal, on the northwest coast of Ireland....
, Tim O'Brien
Tim O'Brien (musician)
Tim O'Brien is an American country and bluegrass musician. In addition to singing, he plays guitar, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, bouzouki and mandocello...
, Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
, Sarah Dugas, Kate Rusby
Kate Rusby
Kate Anna Rusby is an English folk singer and songwriter from Penistone, South Yorkshire. Sometimes known as The Barnsley Nightingale, she has headlined various British national folk festivals, and is regarded as one of the most famous English folk singers of contemporary times...
and Darrell Scott
Darrell Scott
James Darrell Scott known as Darrell Scott , the son of musician Wayne Scott with whom he has collaborated, is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He moved as a child to East Gary, Indiana. He was playing professionally by his teens in Southern California, later living in...
. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
.
Other work
In addition to her solo work, O'Connell has collaborated with a number of Celtic, folk, pop and country artists, including Van MorrisonVan Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, Brian Kennedy
Brian Kennedy (singer)
Brian Edward Patrick Kennedy is an Irish singer-songwriter and author, known for his ballads, and has represented Ireland at Eurovision 2006. He is the younger brother of musician Bap Kennedy.-Personal life:...
, Moya Brennan
Moya Brennan
Moya Brennan, born Máire Ní Bhraonáin , also known as Máire Brennan , is an Irish folk singer, songwriter, harpist, and philanthropist who began performing professionally in 1970, when her family formed the band Clannad, and is now widely considered as the "First Lady of Celtic Music"...
, Mary Black
Mary Black
Mary Black is an Irish singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both folk and contemporary material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland, and in many other parts of the world....
, John Prine
John Prine
John Prine is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s.-Biography:...
, Jerry Douglas
Jerry Douglas
Jerry Douglas may refer to:*Jerry Douglas , actor, who was on The Young and the Restless for 25 years*Jerry Douglas, country/bluegrass musician*Jerry Douglas , director and writer of adult films such as, Score...
, Tim O'Brien
Tim O'Brien (musician)
Tim O'Brien is an American country and bluegrass musician. In addition to singing, he plays guitar, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, bouzouki and mandocello...
, John Gorka
John Gorka
John Gorka is a contemporary American folk musician. In 1991, Rolling Stone magazine called him "the preeminent male singer-songwriter of what has been dubbed the New Folk Movement."-Biography:...
, Bela Fleck
Béla Fleck
Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.-Early life and career details:Fleck was born in...
, Robert Earl Keen
Robert Earl Keen
Robert Earl Keen, Junior is an American Texas Country singer-songwriter. He is popular with fans of traditional country music, folk music, college radio, and alt-country. Keen currently resides in Kerrville, Texas and maintains a ranch in Medina, Texas.-Early life:Growing up in Houston, Texas,...
, Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
and Shawn Colvin
Shawn Colvin
Shawn Colvin is an American singer-songwriter and musician.-Childhood and early career:Colvin was born in Vermillion, South Dakota. Her formative years were spent in the town of Carbondale, Illinois, where she attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She learned to play guitar at the age...
. She has also sung background vocals for a number of artists, including Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
's 1988 project with the Chieftains
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
, Irish Heartbeat
Irish Heartbeat
Irish Heartbeat is the eighteenth album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and is a collaboration with the traditional Irish musical group The Chieftains, released in 1988...
and Stockton's Wing
Stockton's Wing
Stockton's Wing is an Irish band formed in 1977 by four All-Ireland champion musicians - Paul Roche flute/whistle, Maurice Lennon fiddle, Tommy Hayes bodhran, and Kieran Hanrahan banjo/mandolin, along with Tony Callinan on guitar and vocals.-Name:...
on Take A Chance (Tara3004).
Acting
Aside from the music world, Martin ScorseseMartin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
cast O'Connell, scruffed up for the role, as an Irish migrant street singer in his 19th century epic The Gangs of New York, released in 2002.
Discography
Albums- 1983 Maura O'Connell
- 1988 Just in Time
- 1989 Always
- 1989 Helpless Heart (released in Ireland, 1987, as Western Highway)
- 1991 A Real Life Story
- 1992 Blue is the Colour of Hope
- 1995 Stories
- 1997 Wandering Home
- 2001 Walls & Windows
- 2004 Don't I Know
- 2009 Naked With Friends